Summer has passed on the calendar, but autumn is still unbearably hot.
There are several ice basins placed in Lezhizhai in the Forbidden City to make people feel a little cooler.
Even so, I feel sticky after sitting for a long time.
If he had not summoned his ministers, Zhu Yunxi would not have cared about the rules and would have simply worn a sleeveless singlet. But at this moment, when the ministers were in court, the king must not be disrespectful in his appearance.
Not only him, but the ministers in front of him were also wearing thick official robes, court boots and official hats, and many of them had water stains on their temples.
Today, Zhu Yunxi summoned the ministers precisely for the purpose of taxing the land of Jiangsu and Zhejiang. Among the central cabinet ministers, Ling Han, the minister of the Ministry of official affairs, Fu Youwen, the minister of the household ministry, and Wei Anren, the minister. There was also Ma Jing, the prefect of Suzhou, Zhejiang, who was specially summoned to the capital.
Chief envoy Zhang Shan and others.
"You bastard, I'll serve you all the iced sour plum soup and herbal tea!" Zhu Yunxi sat on the throne and said with a smile, "I called you here today to talk about the taxation in Jiangnan!" As he said this, he took out a piece of paper from the imperial case.
This memorial says, "At the beginning of the year, an editor at the Hanlin Academy named Zheng Yong, who was originally from Suzhou, published a memorial in which he complained bitterly about the bad government of the country and said that Suzhou's taxes were too heavy!"
As he spoke, he unfolded the memorial and said, "The Suzhou government's tax revenue is 2.8 million dan on grain alone, which is 1 million dan more than the Zhejiang Chief Secretary for a province. The common people and gentry are miserable."
In fact, not only the taxes in Suzhou are heavy, but the taxes in the four prefectures of Suzhou, Songjiahu and Suzhou are also heavy. In these places, the textile industry is developed, the economy is prosperous, and wealthy businessmen are everywhere.
Starting from the first year of Hongwu, taxes were repeatedly raised in these places. Not only were the taxes raised, but the real property of the gentry was often taken away and transferred to official land.
There is a saying that the old man secretly hated the people in Suzhou and other places who missed Zhang Shicheng, so he imposed heavy taxes. After all, when the world was in chaos, Zhang Shicheng's annual grain tax in Suzhou and other places was only one million dan. But when the Ming Dynasty came,
There are just so many more.
At first, Zhu Yunxi somewhat agreed with this statement. However, as his ability to handle government affairs improved and his vision continued to improve, he found that this statement was also a bit too fallacious.
If the Ming Dynasty had not been founded, it would have been reasonable to impose heavy taxes. But they were all the common people of the Ming Dynasty, and the old man wanted the world to recuperate, so how could he turn a blind eye to the burdens of the people in these places?
Ma Jing, the prefect of Suzhou, stood up, bowed and said, "Back to your highness, the reason why Suzhou's grain tax is so heavy is actually because there are too many official fields. Now, among the fields in Suzhou, official fields account for 60%, totaling 61,000
Many hectares of fields.”
More than 60,000 hectares, a land of fish and rice that can be harvested twice a year, and the annual output of food is an astronomical figure. The so-called official fields refer to the fields of official families. In the previous dynasties, the official fields of the Song Dynasty and the Yuan Dynasty were terra nullius during wars. From the enemy
The fields seized from the hands, the land confiscated from those sinners after the founding of the People's Republic of China, etc.
"In Kunshan, where there are many rich people, 80% of the government land is occupied. In Taicang, Jiading, Changzhou, it is more than 70%! The official land is taxed at a fixed tax of seven dou per mu!" Ma Jing, the prefect of Suzhou, is from Shaanxi. He was a Jinshi in the 15th year of Hongwu's reign. He is an honest and diligent official.
.
It is precisely because he is not a scholar from Jiangsu and Zhejiang that he can serve as a chief official in a big government like Suzhou. Although he does not have the name of a prefect, he has the power of a prefect. It is also because he is not from Jiangnan that he can be somewhat fair and not partial.
Favoriting local forces.
"The tax on official land is high, and the tax on civilian land is naturally high!" Ma Jing continued, "It seems a bit heavy, but I don't think so. There are many workshops in Suzhou Prefecture, and the supply of cotton and silk produced every year exceeds the demand, so the people work part-time.
Farming life is also far better than other places!"
After hearing these words, Zhu Yunxi smiled and said, "I quite approve of the first half of what you said, but I'm still a little dissatisfied with the last sentence!" He said with a smile, "You can't charge more just because someone has more money.
Taxes! Just because people are living a good life, we can’t turn a blind eye to heavy taxes!”
"If we don't collect taxes from those who have more money, why should we collect more taxes from those poor places?" Ma Jing, an upright and upright person, directly criticized Zhu Yunxi, "Your Highness, it is human nature for editors and editors in Suzhou to complain about injustice for their hometown.
But if I am in charge of Suzhou, the life of the people will not be easy, and I naturally know that!"
As he said that, he frowned and said, "I am a stupid person and I don't know what to say. I also know that people's lives are really good when their lives are good. But Suzhou is different from other places and cannot be generalized!"
He spoke harshly and had no idea of tact.
In the palace, Liu Sanwu, a member of the Zhongshu House, said, "Suzhou Mansion, in front of His Highness, please be careful with your words!"
"It doesn't matter!" Zhu Yunxi smiled and said to Ma Jing, "Sit down and tell me what's different. I'm all ears!"
"There are too many rich businessmen and wealthy families!" Ma Jing said sternly, "I am from the north, so I can see things more clearly than others!"
"When the Meng Yuan Dynasty took over the Central Plains, they felt that the killings in the north were too much, so they practiced toleration in the south of the Yangtze River. For a hundred years, the rich and powerful families in the south of the Yangtze River became powerful, the rich had fields and ridges, and the poor had no place to stand. They also racked their brains.
Evade food taxes, enrich yourself and impoverish the country!”
Ma Jing's words made Zhu Yunxi secretly nod. Thinking about the last years of the Yuan Dynasty, the people who hated the old man and other rebels the most, apart from the rulers of the Yuan Dynasty, were the gentry groups in Jiangsu and Zhejiang. These people organized the landlords' armed forces and tried every means to fight against the old man.
.
"Now that grain taxes are heavy, land annexation is not obvious. Once grain taxes are light, these people will hoard land and buy it at high prices!" Ma Jing continued.
"That's nonsense!" behind Liu Sanwu, an official participating in the council said dissatisfiedly, "Isn't it bad that the land price is high? Doesn't it have to be that the land is worthless?"
Zhu Yunxi recognized the person who spoke. Li Shen, the minister of the Hanlin Academy, was also from a wealthy family in the south of the Yangtze River.
"Even if it costs 20 silver dollars per acre, those wealthy businessmen and noble families won't even blink when they buy it!" Ma Jing replied coldly, "But they have speculated on the land to sky-high prices. Who can afford it? By then, the land price will be as high as the food price.
In their hands, people work hard all their lives, just to make money for them!"
"When have they ever made a loss-making business, even if the land price they charge is high? But once there is a natural disaster, they will lower the land price and let the people sell the land cheaply. The people lose their fields and can only be hired by them and given to a few people.
If you want money, you have to give it to them as cattle or horses!"
"Then when the natural disaster is over, they will increase the price of land. As a result, the people will suffer! Now the food tax is heavy, but the people can still afford it. But if the tax is light, they will be the ones who benefit in the end!"
"You" Li Shen was speechless.
"Although the grain tax is high, I think it can restrain land annexation, and the benefits outweigh the disadvantages!" Ma Jing continued, "I know that if I say this, I will be scolded. It is unfair to the people, but as a politician, I should
The overall situation comes first!”
This Ma Jing can be reused in the future!
Although what he said was not entirely correct, his words happened to be one of the reasons why the Ming Empire would be in crisis and decline in future generations.
The annexation of land in important fiscal and tax areas like Jiangnan, and the monopoly of the economy, people's livelihood, culture and politics by wealthy and wealthy families. In the late Ming Dynasty, the power of these people expanded to the point where they were unsustainable. When the country wanted to collect taxes, it all depended on their face and how much they paid.
, rather than how much should be charged.
In addition to land, there is also water transportation and salt services
The reason why the old man showed no color to the Jiangnan gentry and imposed heavy taxes. Even the scholars who deliberately did not reuse these places partly stemmed from this.
It was precisely because of this that Zhu Yunxi was able to implement commercial tax smoothly.
What the old man wants to build is a prosperous small peasant society, and the existence of these big landowners, big businessmen, and wealthy families is the biggest obstacle to the establishment of such a society.
This chapter has been completed!